76 port and maritime supply chain representatives from 12 countries convened last month to agree measures to address wildlife trafficking through Mombasa seaport in Kenya. The port of Mombasa is the largest seaport in Africa and is a key exit point for trafficking of African wildlife. One of the most publicized seizures at Mombasa port involved two containers declared as tea leaves that were intercepted with more than three tonnes of ivory, four rhino horns and teeth from leopards and cheetahs. Alongside elephant, rhino and big cat parts, other wildlife and wildlife products commonly smuggled through Kenya’s seaports include pangolins, timber and shark fins. Specific actions discussed included enhancement of inter-agency and international collaboration, cargo risk profiling, policy enforcement and prosecution capacity and intelligence exchange. The measures were agreed during a Port Stakeholders’ Workshop hosted by The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife of the Republic of Kenya, in partnership with TRAFFIC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Wide Fund for Nature-Kenya (WWF-Kenya). Participants identified key gaps and opportunities in the port management systems to prevent, detect and intercept illegal wildlife products and determined next steps. Kenya Wildlife Service also held a sniffer dog demonstration showcasing how the canine unit can enhance detection by alerting authorities to hidden wildlife products in shipping containers. “The illegal wildlife trade must be made unprofitable and extremely uncomfortable. We must join hands to help each other so that we stay a step ahead...

CONSTRUCTION of the new berth and the cargo yard at Mtwara port is on the right course and the new cargo terminal is expected to be completed next March, the port management in the southern region has confidently stated. Briefing reporters who toured the port recently to witness the implementation of various development projects being carried out by Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) along the Indian Ocean shoreline, Mtwara Port Manager, Engineer Juma Kijavara, said the constructionproject is currently at 55 per cent of implementation. He said the new berth with a length of 300 metres and 13.5-metre depth (draft) will have the capacity to accommodate mega cargo ships weighing 65,000tonnes. Currently, the port accom modates cargo ships with 40,000 tonnes ( Dead Weight –DWT). All the necessary state -of -the art cargo handling equipment, including modern mobile cranes and other heavy lifting machines, will be availed at the port upon completion. The construction of the new multipurpose terminal is being implemented through a joint venture of two Chinese firms- M/S China Railway Construction Engineering Group( CRCEG) and China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group ( CRMBEG) - at the tune of 137bn/-. According to Engineer Kijavara, the modern multipurpose cargo terminal will be capable of delivering quality services to the southern regions(Lindi, Mtwara and Ruvuma) but with specific focus on serving the neighbouring countries in the southern African region - Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. However, he said, the government’s future plan on Mtwara Port is to have four berths. “The old...

Cargo throughput at the Port of Mombasa has increased by 9 per cent in the last nine months of 2019, compared to a similar period last year, a new report shows Cargo throughput is the average quantity of cargo that can pass through a port on a daily basis from arrival at the port to loading onto a ship. The report by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) shows that the Port of Mombasa also increased trans-shipment trade, which grew 137 per cent on average in the period under review. According to the report, the volume of cargo is projected to further increase towards the end of the year as orders for the festive period start arriving. Increased efficiency On Saturday, KPA Managing Director Daniel Manduku attributed the growth in cargo volume to increased efficiency at the port. “This has led to our profits growing from Sh10.6 billion in the 2017-18 financial year to Sh17.5 billion in the 2018-19 financial year,” he said. Dr Manduku said the port handled a total 25.4 million tonnes of cargo from January to September this year, up from 23.4 million tonnes over a similar period in 2018. He added that Lamu Port Consortium (LPC) was negotiating a public-private partnership (PPP) with a South African firm, Transnet SOC, to run the port in Lamu. Kisumu port gets new equipment as reopening nears The first three berths of the new commercial port at Kilalani are expected to be commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta next month. “The negotiations...

As the world’s economic giant – the United States – continues to wage economic war against China, Mexico, Turkey and, more recently, India in establishing tariff barriers against their products, African countries have opted to spurn protectionism and embrace intraregional trade. A significant and historic step was taken on 30 May, as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into effect. What does this all mean, and is it cause for celebration? A market potential for goods and services of 1.2 billion people, an aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5trn, the reduction of tariffs and the free movement of labour is not to be sniffed at. I know this, as I come from a country of 2 million people and a GDP of circa $17.5bn. Investors want access to a large consumer base and the benefits of scale cannot be underestimated for attracting foreign direct investment. Yes, the agreement is indeed a cause for cautious celebration. The speed with which it has been brought into effect from June 2015, when the negotiations first commenced to establish the continental free trade area, to May 2019, when 51 of 54 African countries signed up, is nothing short of a miracle. We need to applaud the tenacity of our leaders in getting here.  As a continent, intraregional trade is an economic imperative. Currently only 12% of trade is within Africa, while 75% of our exports to the rest of the world are still mainly minerals (crude oil and copper), according to United Nations...

The Kenya Revenue Authority has deployed 12 staff to handle customs clearance operations at the Lapsset corridor ahead of the port's commissioning on November 8. On Monday, KRA board chairperson Francis Muthaura and other officials toured the Sh2.5 trillion Lapsset project to assess the level of preparedness for the commencement of operations. President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to commission the first berth at the port in a colourful event during which the first-ever cargo ship is expected to dock. Muthaura said all the personnel dispatched are well trained and have vast experience in handling customs clearance operations. The official met Kenya Ports Authority managing director Daniel Manduku and Lapsset Corridor Development Authority director general Sylvester Kasuku during the tour. “As required under the East African Customs Management Act, the KRA will help with offloading import and export cargo. That means KRA is well prepared to practice its full mandate once the Lamu port begins operations,” Muthaura said. The KRA team also held deliberations with county commissioner Irungu Macharia and Governor Fahim Twaha. During the visit, Muthaura and other top KRA staff also opened a new office block at Lamu Island to coordinate its operations across the county. The construction and rehabilitation of the building commenced early last year and took exactly 12 months to be completed at Sh18 million. The tax board chairman said the offices had come on time as the region continues to open up for more trade, industries and other investment opportunities with the new port in...

Kenya is among the five East African Community (EAC) countries set to benefit from a 3.3 million USD financial support from the Japanese government on trade facilitation and border control capacity. Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya have been facing several obstacles to their supply chain security through threats of acts of terrorism and violent extremism, trade of small arms and light weapons and explosives, a challenge that has hampered economic development and integration in East Africa. In a statement, Japanese Ambassador to Kenya Amb. Ryoichi Horie said the Embassy of Japan in Kenya and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Kenya Multi country Project will on Friday sign the East Africa technical assistance on trade facilitation and border control capacity in project. He said the five countries requested Japan to provide them with technical assistance on trade facilitation and border control to enable the region promote economic growth and fight insecurities. “Trafficking of illegal drugs such as heroin is a major challenge across these countries’ borders,” said Horie. The envoy said the government of Japan has been supporting the One Stop Border Post projects since 2007 through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and was confident that the project would counter international organized crimes, supply chain insecurity, the increasing global threats of terrorism at the EAC borders. Amb. Horie at the same time noted that to complement the successful implementation of water and border surveillance systems by JICA, UNOPS would procure and install border control and surveillance...

In Summary •EAC and Regional Development CS Adan Mohamed says discussions are ongoing but could take up to 12 months before materializing. •EABC chairman Nicholas Nesbitt has expressed optimism continued dialogue will open up trade in Kenya and East Africa which has improved with the One Stop Border Posts. Lack of political goodwill has slowed down the implementation of  the East African Community-Common External Tariff (CET). This even as tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) continue to hamper growth on cross-border trade, which according to the East African Business Council (EABC), remains at a low of 12 per cent. East African Community and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary  Adan Mohamed has said it could take Kenya and her EAC peers up to one year, before having a revised and mutual tariff in place “My guess is we probably have another twelve months or so before we can see a revised programme, because it has to go through the budgetary process and next budget is so many months away,” Mohamed told the Star. He said the discussion is ongoing and acknowledged that current CETs have been in place for a while and it is the right time to assess whether the tariffs are working or not. The tariff discussion which gained momentum at a regional forum in Entebbe,Uganda, in May this year, is yet to bear fruits as some countries have adopted a protectionist approach for their local industries. In February,  EAC Heads of State directed the council of ministers to review the relevant rules and...

COMMENT | DAMALI SSALI | There are several factors that influence the value and volume of trade. However, tariffs on tradeable goods and services are one of the most significant. International trade grew dramatically in the second half of the 20th century. As an example, total global trade in 2000 was 22 times greater than it had been 1950. This increase in multilateral international trade occurred when trade barriers, especially tariffs, were significantly reduced or in some cases eliminated across large trade blocks in Asia, America and Europe. Tariffs are taxes levied on imports and exports between states with the aim of generating government revenues and protecting domestic industries. Sometimes, depending on the tax policy of the country, a tariff could be set as high as 60%. This is usually to protect a young industry that is considered as very important to that state. Other times tariffs are imposed by states, against products and services of another state, to settle scores. The current trade war currently going on between the United States and China is one such tariff war waged between states. In 2017, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development reported that tariffs on tradeable goods and services between the developed states averaged at 1.2%. This is low compared to the average tariffs on tradeable goods and services between African countries which stand at 8%.  Moreover, tariffs remain relatively high in important sectors; including agriculture, apparel, textiles, and leather products. Unfortunately, these high tariffs make it easier for African countries...

Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it’s going next. By many measures, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has been a monumental success. Since 2013, when China launched the effort to expand trade links, more than 130 countries have signed deals or expressed interest. The World Bank estimates some $575 billion worth of energy plants, railways, roads, ports and other projects have been built or are in the works. But President Xi Jinping’s signature effort has also come in for criticism, including accusations that China is luring poor countries into debt traps for its own political and strategic gain. The mixed reviews abroad and worries at home about the cost have led China into something of a reboot as it tries to increase transparency, improve project quality and reduce financial risks. 1. Where are the problems? Several countries have run into trouble with Belt and Road projects or had a rethink, often after a popular backlash, change of government or both. Complaints include corruption, padded contracts, heavy debt loads, environmental damage and a reliance on imported Chinese labor over local hires. Some examples: • Sri Lanka borrowed heavily to build a new port, couldn’t repay the loans, and then gave a state-owned Chinese company a 99-year lease in exchange for debt relief. The port has little business now but provides China a strategic berth along key shipping lanes. • China was set to lend Pakistan $8 billion to upgrade a railroad...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a 455 million U.S. dollars loan to Tanzania for the construction of a new airport and ring roads in the new capital Dodoma, a Tanzanian government statement said on Wednesday. The statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation said the approval of the loan was announced by AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina in the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, during talks with Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Palamagamba Kabudi. The statement said Adesina said the bank was impressed by economic reforms being implemented in Tanzania under the leadership of President John Magufuli. Adesina added that the bank will continue supporting efforts being taken by Tanzania aimed at turning the country into an industrial economy. The AfDB president said out of the 455 million dollars, 180 million dollars will be used for the construction of the ring roads and 275 million dollars for the construction of the airport. He said the bank’s chief mission was to ensure that African countries were fully supported in making remarkable development achievements. For his part, Kabudi thanked the AfDB for supporting the country’s strategic projects aimed at lessening Tanzania’s dependence on foreign handouts. Kabudi said the AfDB has agreed in principle to finance the construction of the standard gauge railway from Isaka to the Rwandan capital Kigali. “Talks between Tanzania and the AfDB on the financing of the construction of the SGR from Isaka to Kigali are on advanced stage,”...